The fact that Kyle had used the birds as a distraction at all kind of meant that he wasn't really too bothered about what became of them. Conjured creatures were different to real creatures - it was actually quite a fascinating topic, really, but again... one he probably shouldn't think too much about at the moment - so any guilt at sending the conjured birds towards the tree was minimised.

Though, admittedly, that pitiful noise that came from one of the birds did send a bit of a pang through him, no matter how logically he looked at the situation. He remedied it by just not looking, and by paying attention to his potion instead.

This time, it had taken all twenty - the maximum necessary for this step in brewing - of the toasted dragonfly thoraxes to be added to the potion before it turned silver, and, when it did, Kyle was relieved. Had he reached twenty and it not turned to right colour, he would have had to waste time in tweaking the potion or even starting again, as that would have meant it was incorrect up until this point. Continuing with a batch that you knew was not meeting the proper milestones could be disastrous, and - IMPS challenge or not - Kyle was not about to knowingly ingest a faulty potion.

With the potion now silver and shimmering, Kyle turned the heat back up again, using his wand. As for the vial of toasted dragonfly thoraxes, he set those aside, because they were no longer necessary. While he watched the potion start to change colours again, Kyle began to consider exactly what extra ingredient he might add, one that would help him up against the tree. Something for extra protection, maybe? Or some Demiguise hair for some sort of Disillusionment? The latter didn't make much sense as, again, the tree didn't have eyes or any sort of human or animal physiology, so Demiguise hair would be a waste of an extra ingredient opportunity.

So then, perhaps something with healing properties? If he was about to willingly run into the path of the trees branches, injuries were highly probably, so... maybe something along those lines?

After maybe half a minute of high heat, Kyle's potion had again turned red. Blood red and angry, but probably not as angry ("angry"?) as the nearby Whomping Willow. He turned the heat back down for a moment, and retrieved the vial of Doxy eggs once more. There were easily more than nine left in the vial, so, rather than tip the lot into the cauldron, Kyle carefully measured out three more scoops, each with three eggs, and added those. After that, he found his vial of untoasted dragonfly thoraxes, and again levitated the appropriate number - ten - into his cauldron.

So close. He was so close to being done. For what felt like the thousandth time, Kyle set the heat to high again, and, while waiting for the colour to change for the penultimate time, he readied a ladle and an empty vial, scourgifying the pair of them so that they were ready for use once the potion was finished.

Which would be soon. After a few moments - which, by the way, felt closer to a few hours, though that would be impossible - the contents of the cauldron had completed the same red-to-violet-to-indigo-to-blue transition again, and once again Kyle quickly turned down the heat. His vial of flying seahorses, luckily enough, contained three exactly, so he simply emptied it into the potion, before turning the heat up one last time.

While he waited for the potion to reach its final stage, Kyle turned his attention to his final ingredient. He really didn't have the luxury of being able to spare a lot of time on thinking about that for long, so... he decided to just trust his instincts; being capable as he was with potions, his instincts had never led him wrong before.

"Accio Wiggentree Bark!"

Wiggentree bark had plenty of curative properties, and was used in one particular type of restorative draught. There were plenty of other potion ingredients with healing properties, but Kyle thought that going with one that came from a tree was most fitting, and might give him the edge. It just felt... best. Suitable. He snatched the vial from the air as it reached him, but kept his eyes on the cauldron.

The potion was green. Not just green, but disgustingly khaki green, and foul-smelling, which meant that it was all done and ready to go. Almost ready to go. Without further delay, Kyle cut off the flame completely and dropped in a single scrap of Wiggentree bark.

Normally, he would let his potion cool, but he didn't have the time and it was surely cold enough outside to at least hurry the cooling process along somewhat. After allowing the bark a moment to infuse the potion with its properties, Kyle finally tucked his wand away, set down his shield, and shook out his aching arm. Then, taking the clean vial in one hand, he ladled the potion into it until it was full, and took another look at the Whomping Willow.

Right. No time to lose. Now or never.

Ignoring the heat (and attempting to ignore the smell, but... ew...) of the potion, Kyle raised the vial to his lips and downed its contents in one. He grimaced and maybe gagged just a little, threw the vial aside, and picked up his shield once more. As the seconds passed, the weariness he had not noticed until now suddenly left him, and the ache in his shield arm was soon gone too, probably thanks to the bark. Standing still was no longer an option; he was ready to go, and he knew that that feeling should last for some time.

Make your way to the passage beneath the tree.

Not bothering with his wand, as he didn't want to risk an unnecessary casualty, Kyle charged forwards, shield at the ready, aiming to reach the roots at the base of the trunk, where the entrance to the passage surely was.